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Uffizi Gallery announces €50m project to return Boboli Gardens to its former Medici-era glory

Planned for completion in 2030, the revamp will include redeveloping the neoclassical Pagliere building for temporary exhibitions and storage

Ten essential artworks to see in Vatican City

From Michelangelo’s Sistine Ceiling to a whole room dedicated to Henri Matisse, we round up some of the unmissable artistic treasures in the world's smallest state

Italian police stop sale of 'exceptional' Artemisia Gentileschi painting that may have been illegally shipped to Vienna

If judges rule that the owners of the work broke the law, the painting will be definitively confiscated by the state and could be donated to a museum

Ten essential artworks to see in Florence

From Michelangelo's David to Botticelli's Birth of Venus, our guide tells you what to see and where to see it

Venice museums send supplies to help save Ukraine’s art

As part of the Save Ukraine Art network, essential materials to protect works from bombs, fire and damp are heading to Lviv National Art Gallery

Italy’s 'monuments men' sign deal with Unesco to help protect world's heritage

World-leading heritage protection taskforce known as the 'Blue Helmets' will have close ties with UN agency to operate abroad

Italian culture sector divided on whether museums should impose tougher sanctions on Russia or continue dialogue

Former Uffizi gallery director calls for cultural sanctions against Russia saying it "would be a huge slap in the face [for] the regime"

Ten essential artworks to see in Rome

From Michelangelo's horned Moses to Mussolini's cancelled Universal Exposition, we round up some of the Italian capital's unmissable artistic treasures

Venice feature

Ten essential artworks to see in Venice

From the greatest stars of the Venetian School to the most mysterious painting in the city, here is our selection of unmissable masterpieces in La Serenissima

Italian pavilion: ‘What is the future for humans?’ asks artist Gian Maria Tosatti

For the first time at the Venice Biennale, a single artist has been given the entire Italian pavilion to fill. Tosatti’s sprawling post-industrial installation asks the big questions

Despite €94m discount, Rome villa with Caravaggio's only ceiling painting fails to sell at auction—again

Slashing Ludovisi Casino's asking price by 20% did nothing to entice would-be buyers; the Italian state is being pressured to purchase the property before it is offered a third time

‘Putin’s Palace’ architect investigated over alleged €50m tax bill

Italian authorities seize valuable paintings in Lanfranco Cirillo's collection, including works by Picasso, Cézanne and Kandinsky

Maurizio Cattelan takes on death in Milan: artist hangs his own effigy in new show and donates Mafia attack work to the city

As Milano Art Week begins, Massimo de Carlo gallery is exhibiting the artist's one-work project while the crematorium is hosting one of his important early works

Italynews

After years of emergencies, Italy launches 'unprecedented' plan to protect churches against earthquake damage

Culture ministry earmarks EU pandemic recovery funds to mitigate the impact of future disasters on religious buildings around the country

Milan’s Museo del Novecento could lose 600 works in legal battle with heir

Mario Bertolini’s vast collection of Modern art, amassed over his lifetime and donated to the museum in 2014, is at the centre of a claim seeking to invalidate the acquisition

Jeff Koons loses court case against Italian collector over 'fake' work

The American artist claimed the sculpture of two snakes was a fake—now a court in Italy has overruled him and said the collector can seek compensation

Milan’s ancient amphitheatre turns over a new leaf with a €1.5m garden-inspired restoration project

Novel project will replace lost parts of the structure with hedges of boxwood, myrtle and privet

Libyanews

Major exhibition in Libya aims to prepare for a surge of archaeological activity once political stability returns

As the two countries look to rekindle historical bonds, a new show shines a light on an archaeological partnership spanning more than a century

Demonstrators gather in Venice to protest against Biennale’s 'invasion' of the Arsenale

Local associations are objecting to plans to transform part of the former shipyard into a new site for the Biennale’s historical archives

Former panopticon prison on Italian island to be turned into 'academy' for Europe's future leaders—and artist residency

The 18th-century horseshoe-shaped structure followed principle of social theorist Jeremy Bentham, which allowed for constant surveillance of inmates

Italynews

McDonald’s blocked from building drive-through at Rome's ancient Baths of Caracalla

The council of state upheld a previous ruling preventing the fast food chain from opening at the popular heritage site

Returning home: Italy pulls 100 works from major museums and sends them to regional institutions where they were previously shown

Loan initiative aims to decentralise Italian collections and encourage more people to visit smaller museums

Defacement of fascist inventor's statue in Rome revealed to be artist hoax

Fake bust of Guglielmo Marconi in Villa Borghese park was spray-painted to draw attention to the manipulation of truth in the media

Pompeii turns to tech to protect ancient site against climate change damage

Monitoring system that includes drones and sensors will track the impact of extreme weather

Crime news

Italy’s museums move to stop ticket touts’ post-Covid comeback

The Uffizi and Galleria dell’Accademia are among those finding ways to prevent re-sellers from inflating ticket prices

Mamma mia! Posters for Naples blasphemy show spark outrage

Blasphemy laws in Italy are strict and can result in fines

Uffizi gets down with the kids, lowering Renaissance masterpieces to children’s eye level

The new initiative also involves a team of museum guards tasked with responding to tiny tots' niggling queries

Loansnews

How a Milan museum won the battle to show the world’s most important private collection of Futurist art

Famous Mattioli collection loan will make Museo del Novecento “undoubtedly the most important centre for Futurist art” when it goes on display next spring